Thumbsucking

Sweet Madeline had her four year appointment with the doctor today.  I was really impressed at how good she was at following directions.  The doctor and nurse asked her to do many tasks, some easy, some hard, and she listened intently and performed each task.  I was also really impressed by her boldness and confidence.  For years she has been very shy, but she is beginning to change.  Though she is not warm to strangers (for which I am thankful), she is confident with people she knows.  It makes me so proud to see her grow up.  I am so thankful to the Lord for the gift of motherhood.  

Madeline LOVES Jason's Deli, as I have blogged about before.  She actually just loves the root beer and frozen yogurt.  I told her that if she made it through nap time without sucking her thumb, I would take her to Jason's Deli for lunch the next day.  Well, about 15 minutes after I put her down, she ran down the stairs and told me that she was awake and did not suck her thumb and was ready to go to Jason's Deli.  What a clever little girl!!!  But, she failed to pull the wool over her mamma's eyes. :)

Happy Birthday Madeline

How did my baby get to be four years old??? What a wonderful day we had celebrating her birthday. We had pancakes for breakfast, Jason's Deli for lunch, Randy's pizza for dinner, and a birthday party in between with a special visit from Grandpa Wells and Grandma Pat. And we discovered something cute. . .Madeline LOVES having "Happy Birthday" sung to her. She beams from ear to ear. It is so sweet to see. Mommy and Daddy love you so much sweet girl. You are truly a blessing from the Lord. We love watching your grow into a young lady. You have such a sweet, caring and tender heart. You are very sensitive to people around you. You play so well with your friends, almost always being willing to share. You are a truly remarkable little girl! Oh. . .almost forgot. When we first told you that it was your birthday, you cried because you did not want to be four. We have been talking about not sucking your thumb when you turn four, so you cried when you realized you were four because you thought it was the end of thumb sucking. One day you will look back at this and laugh. . .I hope. :)

Here's Madeline at her birthday party eating cake. Actually, she did not eat any cake. She ate the frosting off the barbie doll that was stuck into the cake.

What a sweet picture. This morning (the day after the birthday), we played a few rounds of pin the tail on the donkey. Silly Ryan LOVED being blindfolded.

Madeline at her birthday party with her friend Jenna.

The first picture of the birthday girl on the morning of her birthday. Can you tell that we just sang "Happy Birthday" to her?

Madeline posing with her favorite gift, given to her by Ryan. It is Princess Belle that turns around to the tune of a Christmas song. Maddie's Birthday Cake

The birthday room. Of course, this is prior to the birthday party, which I shall describe as contained chaos. I thought it would be a breeze since I teach the preschoolers at church. What I did not count on was the sugar high that resulted from the cake, ice cream, and juice. I NOW know why cake is served at the very end of parties!!!

Turkey and Yogurt

I wanted to share that sweet Ryan has come up with a new idea for eating left over turkey.  It's quite novel. . .one just throws pieces of turkey into one's yogurt bowl, stirs it around, and presto, it's turkey covered yogurt.  The boy could not get enough of this yummy lunch entree.  Of course Mommy served it as a plate of turkey with a side of bread and yogurt, but great things are only discovered if one is willing to go out on a limb and try something new! :-)

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving Dinner 2007

Thanksgiving Oatmeal!

Could not resist posting this picture.  Matt and I LOVE when Ryan makes this face.  The boy has so many funny facial expressions!!!  He is just very expressive and knows how to get a laugh.  My sweet, sweet Ry guy.  If you look closely, you will see Sarah, the hermit crab, out of her shell on the blue piece of paper.  I hate to brag on my own pets, but she is the most social crab I have ever known!

Movie Night at the Wells' with the Brister boys.  We watched Meet the Robinson's and ate LOTS of popcorn (actually, only the Wells' ate lots of popcorn :))

Here we are halfway through Thanksgiving Day and it has already been wonderful.  This morning we all had some Thanksgiving turkey and then had fun watching the Macy's Day parade on TV, going for a walk, and gardening outside.  Thankfully I had done all my prep work during naptime on Wednesday so I had time to spend with the family this morning.  The only hard part of the day was keeping the kids from eating.  They are used to lunch at 11am so waiting another hour was difficult, but mommy was able to distract them.  We had a yummy menu of slow cooked turkey breast smothered with cranberry sauce, traditional stuffing, carrot souffle, wild rice cranberry bake, green bean amandine, and cranberry walnut bread.  We rounded it out with a ginersnap-pumpkin ice cream pie and pumpkin pie with whip cream.  Okay, I admit that the ice cream pie was not that great.  Matt told me not to do it, but I could not resist since it sounded delicious AND it was somewhat low in calories.  Even Madeline was not too keen on it and that girl has a SWEET tooth!  As I closed her door for naptime, she said, "Mommy, please don't ever make that crust again".  She was referring to the gingersnap crust on the pie.  I will make it up to my family by making them the most delicious apple pie this weekend.  From now on we will be sticking to the traditional apple and pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving!

We all had dentist appointments this week.  Poor Daddy has three cavities to be filled, but he has to wait until January 1. . .renewed FSA funds.  Madeline did GREAT.  This was her second time at the dentist.  Though all night she kept telling us that she did not like what the dentist painted her teeth with (it was a fluoride treatment).  What a cute and clever description.

Oh my, almost forgot.  We had to have the kissing conversation with Madeline and her sweet friend Chase yesterday.  Matt heard them upstairs playing and talking about kissing on the lips. Quickly, I called them down the stairs and told them that kissing is very special and that we only kiss people in our family.  Later that night Daddy told her that if any boy wants to kiss her, he has to first ask Daddy.  Madeline asked if even Grandpa Steve had to ask Daddy.  Very cute.  Needless to say, Mommy will follow Madeline and friends upstairs when they decide to play in her room.

Have not yet decided if we are heading out on Black Friday.  There is a great deal on a big George Forman grill and Mommy REALLY wants a big food processor since her blender broke yesterday.  We'll see. . .

Poo Poo in the Potty

Guess who had his first poo poo on the potty.  Our little Ry guy!  I was so encouraged by this that I decided to put him in big boy pants yesterday afternoon.  He stayed dry for hours with Matt and I continually asking him if he had to use the potty.  Of course minutes before our Bible study started I was sopping up pee on the carpet of the family room.  The difference between Madeline and Ryan is laughable.  When Madeline pee peed in her panties for the first time, she sobbed and from that point on she kept her panties dry and was potty trained in weeks.  Ryan's reaction was quite different.  Actually, there was no reaction by Ryan.  It was Daddy who noticed the stream falling onto the carpet and ran him into the bathroom.  I have a feeling that we have a ways to go, but oh well, it was worth the shot!

Toilet Paper Roll Turkeys

Daddy comes home today. . .yippee!  To pass the time this morning we did some arts and crafts.  Madeline made an elaborate turkey out of toilet paper rolls while Ryan made a hand turkey with an eye and smiley face.  I'm realizing that at this age Mommy does most of the work when we do these projects, but I love it and it's fun watching the kids enjoy their accomplishment.  If you look closely at the picture, you will see green all around Ryan's mouth and cheeks.  Coloring the hand turkey was not enough!  He thought that he also needed a festive look!

We have an eventful couple days ahead of us.  Tonight we watch the Brister boys. . .Jason, Chase and little Lance.  We are excited, but know it is going to be a blur of activity (Roxann watched Maddie and Ryan for our anniversary and they are celebrating their anniversary tonight).  I have a feeling we will spend a lot of time in the basement throwing balls and kicking things and just having fun.  Tomorrow morning we head to Raleigh's Christmas parade. The temperature is supposed to be in the 30's!!!  Family bonding at its best.  And tomorrow night we head to the mall for the tree lighting.  The Wells' love activity and being with people.

We just returned from a trip to the Morrisville playground.  My favorite part of taking the kids to the playground is watching them play together.  They have so much fun chasing each other and colliding as they slide down the slide.  There is nothing more heart warming than hearing them laugh with each other.  Of course, our time was cut short when Madeline took a stick swing to the face.  It was an accident, but still not good!  I wonder who will end up with more scars at the end of the their childhood. . .Ryan because he is crazy or Madeline because she is often the recipient of Ryan's crazies. :)

This picture was taken from the waist up because the little guy is starting to sit on the potty. :)

Grandpa and GG Come for a Visit

The Wells' have had a whirlwind of a week. Daddy traveled all week. Grandpa came to visit on Wednesday and left Friday morning. And GG arrived Friday evening and left on Monday morning. It was wonderful.

The more Matt travels, the more I am realizing how important it is for Ryan to have Daddy around. He really needs someone to rough house and wrestle with, and I just don't do it like Daddy. Though Ryan is one of the joys of our souls, we have been struggling daily with disciplining him. He is adamant about exerting his independence and telling us no. Little does he realize that Mommy and Daddy are far more stubborn than he! Though Matt and I grow weary of disciplining him we are pressing on, knowing that the future fruit far outweighs the present momentary struggles.

This morning, right after Ryan woke up, Matt called me upstairs to ask me about a large water mark on the carpet. I was perplexed by it and touched it. It was warm!!! That of course only means one thing in a home with a toddler in a diaper. . .it was pee-pee. I pulled Ryan toward me and realized that under his half zipped pj's was a diaper that was only half on. Thankfully Matt noticed the spot before we noticed a smell!

Madeline and Ryan enjoy some special cuddle time with Grandpa. Clasped in Madeline's hand is Jasmine's head. Grandpa gave her a Jasmine doll that has not left her side since she got it on Wednesday. Jasmine is even taking baths and having her hair french braided. Ryan, of course, has a ball obsession.

Ryan and Madeline both took terms listening to Grandpa's heart. It is fun to listen to since his metal mitral valve makes an audible clicking sound.

Madeline enjoys a sweet hug from Grandpa. Of course, Jasmine is right by her side.

Ryan is usually a bit slow to warm up to people, but he remembered GG as soon as she walked through our door and he could not get enough of her all weekend. As we watched Dora the Mermaid movie, Ryan cuddled close to GG. And GG loved every moment of it.

GG is the most energetic "30" year old I know (she of course would die, yes have a heart attack, if I shared her actual age)! Ryan and Madeline had so much fun with GG. Saturday was so fun! We started the day at the Durham Life Science Museum. We had a great time looking through all the exhibits, playing in the wooden forts, petting the animals, and watching the bugs. This trip we learned a very important lesson. . .turkey's have VERY sharp beaks. If one doubts that, just ask Madeline about her finger's encounter with the turkey's beak. After the Museum, we headed to Costco for luch. . .GG and Mommy LOVE Costco for lunch. Next we toured Duke and drove through UNC and ended the evening at the play area at the Steets of Southpoint. It is always so fun when my mom comes to visit. I always get sad watching her drive away, even though she still gets on my nerves every once in a while (I know you're reading this mom :)).

Here is Madeline with the webkin that GG and Grandpa Steve got her. She loves it and is enjoying taking care of Owl (don't ask me, I have NO idea why she named it Owl, except that at the Museum we saw owls). On Sunday we had some girl time. The three of us went to Jason's Deli for lunch and then did a bit of shopping. Jason's Deli is Mommy and Madeline's favorite place to eat because of the free frozen yogurt! Madeline also loves the root beer. I cannot get enough of my sweet girl. She is so loving and so stinking funny. She knows how to joke and how to make Mommy and Daddy laugh, and I mean really laugh.